Best Stock Music For Multimedia Projects

One of the basic rules of instructional design is to grab the learner’s attention from the start. A musical introduction does just this. It captures attention, sets the mood and adds a professional flair to your work. In addition, sound effects provide a wonderful dimension of realism to scenarios and stories.

Below you will find online providers of stock music and sound effects (SFX). These sites offer pricing and tracks suitable for online learning, videos, presentations and other multimedia projects.

Please check the licensing agreements carefully as some tracks are suitable for internal projects and others for commercial endeavors.

Audio Jungle
At Audio Jungle you can browse music and sound effects by category. Most of the tunes are reasonably priced and sound effects are inexpensive. You’ll find a good selection. Music and SFX.

AudioMicro
This site has a very wide selection of genre music and sound effects. It also offers quite a few free sound effects if you register. The quality of the recordings seems to be consistently good, but the pricing is a higher than what you’ll find at Audio Jungle and a few other sites. The search filters make your time there efficient and it’s design to make it easy to listen to all of your search results by selecting Next Track. Music and SFX.

CSS Music
Although you might wish this site had a makeover, you can find a wide selection of music and sound effects (known as EFX on this site). Choose from single downloads and “virtual CDs.” Search by keyword or category. Music and SFX.

Jamendo
You may know Jamendo as a free radio site, but it also licenses music for public use. In this well-designed site, you can browse music by genre and search by keyword. Pricing is based on your intended use. Multimedia training comes under their “Corporate Use” licensing. Music only.

iStockphoto
Chances are you have run across or used istockphoto when looking for stock images. They also provide stock music and sound effects in a similar format. Notice the Audio selection in the menu bar. You can browse by category (small menu option on the right) or by keyword. Music and SFX.

Pond5
This stock media site offers a wide selection of music and sound effects. Your search results will consist of a screen full of audio files. Roll over each one for the cost of each tune. Prices are higher than at many other music sites, but it wasn’t apparent why from the licensing agreement. Music and SFX.

Royalty Free Music Pro
Here you’ll find a decent collection of music with different price points for various licenses. The Personal license (Internet non-commercial use and attribution) will probably cover most of your needs. They provide the music in short clips as well as the full track. Music only.

SoundsmackSoundsmack may be the only sound effects and music site created by and for eLearning designers and developers. With over 2000 sound effects, you’re bound to find what you need. They also have a separate category for ambient background sounds, which add a compelling touch of realism to eLearning scenarios and games. Check their music library too. The prices are very reasonable at Soundsmack. Music and SFX.

Soundsnap
Soundsnap is swimming with sound effects. You won’t find anything else here. They have a variety of pricing models, ranging from five sounds to an unlimited subscription service. If you’ve been looking for reasonably priced sound effects, you will be happy with this find. SFX only.

Stockmusic.net
Stockmusic.net provides music for commercial and broadcast purposes and is priced for buyout only. This means you purchase the music for a flat, one time charge and do not pay ongoing fees or royalties. The site provides an efficient way to search: by keyword, genre, mood, instrument and more. Prices are higher than what you’d want to pay for internal training purposes. Music only.

Free Music and SFX

Brainy Betty
You’ll find a limited selection of free music and sound effects at Brainy Betty. Music and SFX.

Danosongs
Danosongs has a supply of music by one individual musician that is free to download with attribution. A donation is requested with no attribution. Although I applaud the free download approach, you will find more variety at sites where you can purchase individual tunes. Music only.

Freesound
This is a collaborative database of Creative Commons Licensed sounds. This collection is limited, but it’s free for registration. SFX only.

Incompetech
Similar to the approach above, Incompetech has a supply of music by one individual artist that is free to download. Again, for more depth and breadth in selection, check out the commercial sites. When using this music, you must attribute correctly and adhere to the Creative Commons license or pay for the no-attribution license. Music only.

Musopen
A public domain library of music from a nonprofit focused on “creating free resources and educational materials.” You can download recordings for free, without copyright restrictions. Music only.

Soundjay
Nicely recorded sound effects. Download individual sounds for free or purchase their set of 3,000 sounds.

Design better learning experiences. Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

I recommend http://www.danosongs.com, music is available with or without vocals, and the tracks are professional quality. All that is asked is a credit on the completed work, and he even makes that easy, too. Good luck!

You might also try MusicRevolution.com http://www.musicrevolution.com , an innovative online marketplace for royalty-free music. MusicRevolution.com has over 30,000 tracks of affordable, high-quality royalty-free music online. New music is being added every day. I am the co-founder.

Orange Free Sounds offers a lot of Free Sound Effects, Music Loops and Background Music for both Commercial & Non – Commercial use. There are no hidden costs or need to sign-up. Download is completely free.

I mostly find royalty free sites have either complicated, expensive, or restrictive licenses, especially for those who are just starting out and don’t have much money to invest for background good music but still really want something that sounds good. Free music can feel overused to many, and so they look for stock audio they can use but realize they’re too expensive. I’m a music maker my self, and got a website you can get cheap, but good background music for your either monetized or non-monetized videos. License is very simple too.
In case of interest, here it is: http://www.ispeakwaves.com

For over 10 years I have been working as a game and app developer, I do all the work myself, but the sound is very complicated, so I decided to start using sites like: https://audiojungle.net/ and https://www.mobeyee.com/, I highly recommend these sites, especially mobeyee, for being much cheaper, and having the sounds that I need.
excellent article !!

[…] Best Stock Music For Multimedia Projects: The eLearning Coach From theelearningcoach.com – Today, 3:59 PM Reviews of stock music sites for people who produce online learning, presentations and videos. Many of these sites provide sound effects. Via Grant Montgomery […]

[…] Best Stock Music For Multimedia Projects: The eLearning Coach From theelearningcoach.com – Today, 5:15 AM Reviews of stock music sites for people who produce online learning, presentations and videos. Many of these sites provide sound effects. […]

[…] Best Stock Music For Multimedia Projects: The eLearning Coach From theelearningcoach.com – Today, 9:47 AM Reviews of stock music sites for people who produce online learning, presentations and videos. Many of these sites provide sound effects. […]

[…] Best Stock Music For Multimedia Projects: The eLearning Coach From theelearningcoach.com – Today, 10:52 PM Below you will find online providers of stock music and sound effects (SFX). These sites offer pricing and tracks suitable for online learning, videos, presentations and other multimedia projects. […]

[…] (and a great overall eLearning site) by Connie Malamed. In brief, she lists her suggestions on ‘Best Stock Music for Multimedia Projects’ where “you will find online providers of stock music and sound effects (SFX). These sites […]